U.S. Treasury picks 24 census tracts in San Antonio to get Trump tax benefits

The Treasury Department named 24 census tracts in the San Antonio area to become “opportunity zones” under the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul President Donald Trump signed into law in December.

The Treasury Department named 24 census tracts in the San Antonio area to become “opportunity zones” under the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul President Donald Trump signed into law in December.

Photo: Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News

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The U.S. Treasury Department designated 24 census tracts in Bexar County as "opportunity zones"  areas where investors can make long-term investments in exchange for capital gains tax relief.

The U.S. Treasury Department designated 24 census tracts in Bexar County as "opportunity zones"  areas where investors can make long-term investments in exchange for capital gains tax relief.

Photo: Screenshot/U.S. Treasury

U.S. Treasury picks 24 census tracts in San Antonio to get Trump tax benefits

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Two-dozen economically depressed regions around San Antonio could get billions of dollars worth of new investment through a designation handed down this week by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The Treasury Department named 24 census tracts in the San Antonio area to become “opportunity zones” under the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul President Donald Trump signed into law in December, according to the Treasury’s website.

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Under the tax bill, investors can park their capital in long-term investments in economically disadvantaged areas deemed “opportunity zones” in exchange for a reduced or, if they keep that investment long enough, eliminated capital gains tax burden.

Business

The idea is to incentivize businesses to make what could be otherwise considered risky investments in blighted areas with slow business growth, low household incomes and high unemployment.

The areas selected by the Treasury include large chunks of the East Side near Fort Sam Houston, much of downtown San Antonio, areas of the West Side close to downtown along Commerce St., Port San Antonio, Kelly Air Force Base, portions of the South Side, Stinson Municipal Airport, the Brooks master planned community and the Northeast Corridor — which includes a stretch of Perrin Beitel and Nacogdoches roads that extend to O’Connor Road.

The Treasury also picked wide swaths of southern Bexar County that cover Von Ormy, Toyota’s manufacturing plant, Texas A&M University San Antonio, Braunig Lake and Elmendorf.

Governors were allowed in March to nominate a quarter of all eligible census tracts in their state — areas where the poverty rate is at least 20 percent and where median family income is no more than 80 percent of the region’s median income.